EAGAN, Minn. – To say the Vikings season has been a grind so far would be a tremendous understatement.
Minnesota hasn’t yet reached the midpoint (halftime of the Chargers game?) of a 17-game season, but its first seven games have been mentally, emotionally and physically draining.
Six of the Vikings seven games thus far have come down to the end and been decided by seven or fewer points, and they’ve already gone into overtime twice – a loss at Cincinnati in Week 1 and a win at Carolina in Week 6.
The offense has struggled to find any sort of consistency, despite having a bevy of proven playmakers – that was illustrated once again Sunday night when the Vikings fell 20-16 to the Cowboys at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer emphasized to media members that he and Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak are trying to make things happen offensively.
“You talk about ‘aggressive play-calling’ – the first play of the game, we tried to take a shot. We tried to hit a double move that we didn’t connect on,” Zimmer said. “We had another, the one with pass interference to [Justin] Jefferson, when he got hurt, was a deep over route. So it’s not like we don’t have those things that we’re planning on doing. It’s just something they’re not working.
“We were trying to be aggressive in some of the parts there. I think we threw the ball nine straight times in the second half and went three-and-out three times,” Zimmer later added. “We have to be able to run the football. We’ve got to get the ball to Dalvin [Cook], and we’ve got to try to get the ball to Jefferson and [Adam] Thielen. When Jefferson got out, we’ve got to try to get the ball to Adam a little bit more. We’ve got to try to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers.”
From the 3:05 mark of the third quarter until 9:44 remained in the fourth quarter, the Vikings did attempt seven consecutive pass plays that were spread over three possessions that ended with punts.
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